> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.powerfulform.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.powerfulform.com/field-types/ratings/rating-star.md).
# Rating star
Ask for a rating out of five stars, hearts or smiles.
The **Rating star** field shows five stars and the visitor clicks one. It is the quickest question on any form, which makes it right for a post-purchase review, a "how did we do?" line at the end of a support form, or a product feedback request you send after delivery.
## 🔧 How to Set It
In the form editor, click **Add element**, open the **Ratings** category and pick **Rating star**. The field is added and its settings open on the left.
See [Add and arrange elements](/build-your-form/add-and-arrange-elements.md) for the other ways to add a field and how to reorder them.
Rating star records a whole number from one to five.
## 🔧 Settings
Only the settings specific to this field are listed here. **Label**, **Placeholder**, **Description**, **Required**, **Hide label**, **Column width**, **Conditional display** and the rest of the shared settings work the same on every field.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ------- |
| **Choose another icon** | Replaces the star with a different shape. | Off |
| **Show number under icon** | Prints 1 to 5 beneath the icons. | Off |
### Swap the star for something else
Turn on **Choose another icon** and the **Select icon** grid appears with two alternatives:
* **Laugh solid** — a smiling face. It reads as *how did that feel?* rather than *how good was it?*, which suits a service or an experience.
* **Heart** — reads as *how much did you like it?*, which suits a product or a design.
Leave **Choose another icon** off to keep the familiar star.
{% hint style="info" %}
The scale is always five icons, whichever shape you pick, and there is no setting to make it longer or shorter. If you need a wider scale, use [Rating level](/field-types/ratings/rating-level.md), which runs from 5 to 10 points.
{% endhint %}
### Show the numbers
Turn on **Show number under icon** to print 1 to 5 beneath the icons. Two reasons to do it:
* It removes any doubt about which end is good, which matters when you have swapped in hearts or faces.
* It makes the field easier to answer accurately on a phone, where five small icons sit close together.
Leave it off for the tightest layout — worth doing when the field shares a line with another one at 50% **Column width**.
## 🔄 How It Works
### What the visitor sees
The visitor sees your label and five icons in a row. Hovering fills the icons up to the one under the cursor, and clicking sets the rating. Clicking a different icon moves it. Only one rating can be given, and there is no half-star.
If the field is required and left empty, the form refuses to submit and shows the error message under the field. You can reword it on [Edit error messages](/build-your-form/error-messages.md).
### How the answer reaches you
The submission stores a whole number from 1 to 5, where 5 is all five icons filled. That is what appears in **Submissions**, in your notification emails, in exports and in connected integrations, so a column of ratings averages cleanly in a spreadsheet.
Because the answer is a number, conditional rules that read this field offer **is greater than** and **is less than** alongside **is equal to** and **is not equal to**.
Ask unhappy customers what went wrong
1. Add a **Rating star** field labeled *How would you rate your order?* and turn on **Required**.
2. Add a **Textarea** labeled *Sorry to hear that. What let us down?* underneath it.
3. On the **Textarea**, turn on **Conditional display**, leave it on **Show**, and set the rule to: *How would you rate your order?* — **is less than** — `4`.
The follow-up box now appears only for the people with something to tell you, and the happy customers get a one-click form.
## 💡 Example
* **Post-purchase review** ⇒ five stars, nothing else to set
* **How did we do?** ⇒ **Choose another icon** for something other than a star
* **Product feedback** ⇒ **Show number under icon** on, so the visitor sees the score they gave
## ⚠️ Limits & Notes
### Which rating field to use
| Use | When |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Rating star** | A quick five-point score with a familiar shape. |
| **Rating level** | A longer numbered scale, up to ten, with wording at each end. |
| **Feedback** | A row of expression icons with a word under each one. |
| **Matrix** | Several questions scored against the same set of answers. |
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## Next steps
* [Rating level](/field-types/ratings/rating-level.md) — a numbered scale that suits recommendation scores.
* [Feedback](/field-types/ratings/feedback.md) — an expression-icon scale with labels.
* [Show or hide fields with conditional logic](/build-your-form/conditional-logic.md) — follow up on a low score.
* [Form insights](/submissions/form-insights.md) — see how the ratings are trending.
